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Seasonally Adjusted Consumer Price Index (2012=100) : May 2019

Reference Number:

2019-091

Release Date:

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Month-on-Month Growth Rates

• Philippines

At the country level, the monthly seasonally adjusted CPI for all items increased by 0.3 percent in May 2019 from 0.2 percent in the previous month. Higher increments were recorded in the following commodity groups:

Food and non-alcoholic beverages (0.5% from 0.2%);

Alcoholic beverages and tobacco (0.7% from 0.6%);

Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels (0.4% from 0.1%);

Furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house (0.3% from 0.1%);

Recreation and culture; and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services (0.3% from 0.2%).

On the other hand, the education index went down further by 0.3 percent from -0.2 percent while the indices of clothing and footwear; and health both retained their previous month’s rate of 0.2 percent.

Relative to the expected trend, seasonal factors such as the traditional fiesta celebrations in selected areas of the country and production of selected goods in preparation for the opening of classes pushed up the indices of the following commodity groups:

Alcoholic beverages and tobacco;

Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels; and

Education.

However, these seasonal factors pushed down the indices for all items; food and non-alcoholic beverages; health; and recreation and culture. The indices of clothing and footwear; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house; and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services were not affected by these seasonal factors (see Table 1).

• National Capital Region (NCR)

In NCR, the seasonally adjusted CPI of alcoholic beverages and tobacco, and non-food correspondingly went up by 0.5 percent and 0.3 percent in May 2019 from 0.2 percent in the previous month. Meanwhile, the index of food and non-alcoholic beverages moved up at a slower pace of 0.2 percent in May from 0.5 percent in April. The indices of recreation and culture, and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services both retained their previous month’s rate at 0.1 percent, and education at 0.2 percent. The index of furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house registered a zero growth during the month

Seasonal factors such as the traditional fiesta celebrations in some parts of the country and the production of selected goods in preparation for the opening of classes pushed up the indices of the following commodity groups:

Alcoholic beverages and tobacco;

Furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house; and

Restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services.

These seasonal factors, however, pushed down the indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, recreation and culture, and education (see Table 2).

• Areas Outside National Capital Region (AONCR)

The seasonally adjusted CPI for all items in AONCR rose by 0.3 percent in May from 0.2 percent in April. Higher increments were noted in the indices of the following commodity groups:

Food and non-alcoholic beverages (0.4% from 0.1%);

Alcoholic beverages and tobacco (0.8% from 0.6%);

Furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house (0.3% from 0.2%); and

Slower monthly increases were, however, recorded in the indices of clothing and footwear, and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services, both at 0.2 percent from 0.3 percent. The education index dropped further by 0.4 percent from -0.3 percent. The recreation and culture index retained its previous month’s rate of 0.3 percent while the health index registered a zero growth during the month.

The seasonal factors like the traditional fiesta celebration in different areas of the country and the production of selected goods in preparation for the opening of classes pushed up the indices of the following commodity groups:

Alcoholic beverages and tobacco;

Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels; and

Education.

On the contrary, these seasonal factors pushed down the indices for all items; food and non-alcoholic beverages; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house; and recreation and culture. Meanwhile, these seasonal factors did not affect the indices of clothing and footwear; health; and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services (see Table 3).